Armored Combat

Armored Combat is a very big part of the SCA. The only way to become King and/or Queen in the SCA is to be the last person standing in a Crown Tournament.

Combat is fought in real armor with weapons made of rattan. Rattan is similar to bamboo but has a solid core making it light weight, durable and, to an extent, flexible. The most important aspect of rattan is that is does not splinter when broken it “brooms” out .

Armor is required for the head, neck, lower spine, kidneys, groin, elbows, knees and hands. Armor can be purchased or produced by yourself following SCA rules. For example: the Helm must be made of 1/16th inch steel and padded with at least 1/2 inch of foam and face guards shall prevent a 1-inch diameter dowel from entering into any of the openings. A complete list of these rules are available on the www.sca.org website.

The primary responsibility of the Marshall is to assess and assure that all safety guide lines are meet and that all participants are capable to fight without undue harm to themselves or others. Before each fight the Marshall will approve the fighter for battle and reserves the right to remove a fighter from a fight as the fighting is a full-speed, near full-force, full-contact competition between two or more combatants, and it is designed to resemble medieval combat dueling or melee.